[Congressional Record: May 8, 2002 (Extensions)]
[Page E750-E751]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr08my02-36]
ENHANCED BORDER SECURITY AND VISA ENTRY REFORM ACT OF 2001
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speech of
HON. NEIL ABERCROMBIE
of hawaii
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, May 7, 2002
Mr. ABERCROMBIE Madam Speaker, I voted ``Present'' on final passage
of the Senate amendments to H.R. 3525, the Enhanced Border Security and
Visa Reform Act of 2001. I fully support the bill's stated purpose of
reducing threats posed by individuals and organizations which would
enter the United States with the intent to commit acts of terrorism.
My concern with this measure centers on Section 306, entitled
``Restriction On Issuance Of Visas To Nonimmigrants From Countries That
Are State Sponsors of International Terrorism.'' Section 306
establishes a sweeping, over-broad prohibition against issuing
nonimmigrant visas to citizens of any nation on the State Department's
list of terrorist states.
This could preclude the kind of people-to-people contact that can
change cultures, and even the political regimes of those countries.
Even at the height of the Cold War, we had exchange programs involving
students and scholars from Communist nations. By sharing their first-
hand experiences and changed perspectives, returnees from these
programs helped undermine the demonized image of the USA projected in
the official propaganda of the Soviet Union and its satellites.
In many of the nations on the prohibited list, there is a vast
reservoir of good will toward the United States and a broadly based
public sentiment exerting a countervailing pressure against their
regimes' official hostility toward our country. Iran is a case in
point, where large numbers of voters in the most recent national
elections cast their ballots in favor of candidates who disagreed with
the policies of the dominant faction. It is a serious mistake to
discount that popular sentiment and to ignore opportunities to
strengthen it by exposing citizens of those nations to Americans and
American life.
Section 306 authorizes the Secretary of State, in consultation with
the Attorney General and heads of other agencies, to make exceptions to
individual aliens covered by this Section if they are found to pose no
threat to the safety or national security of the United States. Section
306 directs the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney
General and heads of other agencies, to develop standards for making
these exceptions.
The language here is unacceptably broad. If the exemption guidelines
or standards were
[[Page E751]]
outlined in the legislation, we would have had an opportunity to
discuss and consider the merits of programs like education and cultural
exchange and their usefulness for attaining U.S. national security and
foreign policy goals. As it stands, it allows the current or a future
Administration to establish exemption standards so narrow as to
preclude the possibility of accruing the benefits of a broader--but
still regulated with an eye to security considerations--exchange of
citizens. In abdicating its role in setting standards, the Congress has
forgone an opportunity to have a voice in this important aspect of
policymaking.
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